#seemaree

  Replanting the rhoda in the meadow hadn’t quite worked out. When Peeta and Katniss got close to the meadow that afternoon, they could hear voices. Peeking through the trees they could see people hanging out, enjoying the sunshine, in one of the nicer spots in the district. They’d had to circle around and get under the fence behind some abandoned coal warehouses. There was no way they could quietly plant the bush with that crowd out, so they decided to meet up later.

Sneaking out at dusk isn’t hard when everyone in your house goes to sleep by eight. Peeta waits until he can hear his brother snoring from the other bed, and slips out. He tiptoes down the stairs with his boots in hand, and once he’s out the back door he sits down on the step to pull them on.

He feels a body slams into him, and knock him sideways. “Oooff. What-”

“What are you doing out here?” He looks up from the ground, to see his oldest brother.

“I ah, um, I’m going, um,” Peeta mumbles, and his brother laughs.

“Sneaking out eh? Is there a girl?” Peeta feels himself turning red, which is apparently explains everything, because Dayvid slaps him on the shoulder and grins. “I didn’t know you had it in you. Good for you. Don’t get caught on the way back in. Actually, how about this, be back here by nine thirty, and we’ll go up together.” Peeta nods, gaping, is his brother helping him? Dayvid gives him a wave and strolls off down the alley.

When Peeta reaches the street he’s surprised to see a lot of people around. Somehow he thought that everyone went to bed as early as his family. But that doesn’t make sense. Even the miners don’t start their shift until six. The Mellarks probably get up earlier than anyone else in the district. For the first time he understands why Dayvid wanted the hot daytime shift, because being out after dark feels exciting.

“Hi,” he feels a bump on his side and turns to see Katniss, she has slipped up beside him without him noticing.

“Hi,” he says back, feeling shy. They stand for a moment, eyes caught, until she glances away. “So, ah, do you have it?” he asks, mostly to say something. She nods and pats her bag. Peeta shuffles his feet, unsure of what to say next.

“Come on,” she says impatiently, grabbing his hand and tugging him along. But when they pass a group of teenagers standing on the corner Peeta finds himself looking into Dayvid’s startled blue eyes. Which get even wider when he sees the girl leading him. Peeta tries to turn his face away, but it’s too late.

“Who was that?” Katniss whispers, dropping his hand.

“My brother.”

“Is he going to tell?” Is he? Peeta doesn’t think so, not after helping him sneak out. But he knows he’s going to be demanding an explanation later. But Katniss doesn’t need to know all that, so he just shakes his head.

She doesn’t look entirely satisfied, but they continue on to the meadow. There are a few people around still, but no one pays attention to a couple of kids in the shadows, and they are able to plant the small bush in an out of the way corner.

“Do you think it’s going to be okay?” Peeta asks worriedly, looking at the sad, wilted looking plant. Katniss nods confidently.

“We got a big ball of dirt with it, and gave it water. If we water it every day it’ll be fine and flowering by the wedding day.”

Peeta feels himself relaxing. It’s been a long exciting day, and it’s cool out here, not like the oppressive heat of the rooms above the bakery. He lays back on the grass and he feels himself starting to drift off. Katniss nudges him.

“Don’t you have to get home?” He wishes he didn’t. He wants to lay here with Katniss, and watch the stars.

When he reaches his backdoor, Dayvid is waiting with a serious look on his face. He gives Peeta a nod, and sits down under the apple tree and Peeta follows, reluctantly. He’s exhausted, his face is throbbing, and he has to wake up in less than six hours. This is a bad time for his brother to become interested in him.

“What are you thinking kid? Are you crazy?”

“You didn’t seem to care I was sneaking out before.” Peeta is annoyed.

“That was before knew it was to see a seam girl, and not just any seam girl, it’s the little Everdeen. Do you know what mom would do to you if she found out? This,” he points to Peeta’s purpling face, “would be nothing. She seriously could kill you. That’s how bad it would be.”

“And how’s she going to know, if you don’t tell her,” Peeta mutters. His brother shakes his head.

“Stupid. How about all the people who saw you walk through town holding hands? I wanted to stop you then and there, but I didn’t want any of my friends to notice you. I admire your game, really, but you’ve got to think this through. Don’t walk around in public like that, in fact, don’t let anyone see you together. Okay?”

“Okay.” Peeta nods feeling resentful. He doesn’t know how Katniss will react to this. Will she think he’s ashamed to be friends with seam kids? Will she hate him?

“So. Want to sleep out here?”

“What?” Peeta is confused by the change of subject.

“When it’s hot like this, I sleep out here.” He produces some blankets from behind him and grins. “If they ask I’ll tell them your face was hurting and I brought you out here to cool down, and we fell asleep. Doesn’t hurt to lay on the guilt, Dad will give you food you can use to win over the girl.” Peeta smiles, reluctantly. Because it’s true. The worse his mother makes him suffer, the more his father tries to make it up to him.

They spread out the blankets and lay down. Dayvid is right. If you can ignore the smell of the pigs, it’s far more pleasant to sleep out here.

“What’s your girl’s name anyway? I can’t keep calling her Everdeen.”

“She’s not my girl,” Peeta admits grudgingly. He likes the sound of it, but if his brother said that to Katniss, it would be bad. Particularly because has to tell her that they can’t be seen together in public. Katniss is nobody's secret seam girl.

------------------------------------

Peeta wakes to sun shining in his eyes and panics. It is so, so late, it must be at least six thirty, he should’ve been at work three hours ago. He’s alone, Dayvid is gone. Was all that stuff last night, acting like he cared just a trick to get him in more trouble? Getting him to fall asleep out here where no one would be able to find him, so he’d sleep through his shift?

He stumbles into the kitchen in a panic, but everything seems fine, bread cooling on the racks, his father and brothers moving around calmly.

“Hey,” Dayvid calls from the other side of the room. “I thought you needed the extra sleep, so I took your shift.” Peeta gapes at him until he winks with a nod toward their father. “You, know, with how you felt last night.” And Peeta remembers.

“Ah, yeah, it was much better outside in the cool. Thanks.”

“Want to take over here so I can grab a few extra hours of sleep?” Peeta nods, still feeling fuzzy.

Sure enough, as soon as the morning rush is done, Peeta’s father, who is still refusing to look at him directly, hands him a bag of broken cookies and sends him off to have fun with his friends.

Peeta wanders toward the meadow. He’s not sure how this is supposed to work. Does he wait here for the other kids to show up? What if they’ve already been and gone? But no. He’s relieved when he sees Gale sauntering toward him.

“Hey ‘friend’, what do you have today?” Peeta offers the bag wordlessly. Gale tries and fails to hide his smile when he looks inside. The younger kids squeal in delight when he hands them each a few pieces of cookie.

“Are you sure this is okay?” he asks, pausing in the act of shoving the paper bag into his satchel. Peeta nods.

“I ate already.” His dad, in full guilt mode, had loaded him up with ham and toast. “I brought that for you guys.” Katniss ignores the byplay and leads the way to the fence. She hasn’t even looked at him, and Peeta doesn’t know what he did wrong. Did his brother say something to her when she traded that morning?

After some debate Gale agrees to leave the three younger kids, and Peeta, picking onions. He’s feeling stupidly upset by Katniss’ continuing to ignore him, but then as Gale is sternly telling his brothers to keep their voices down, because of, the wall of victor’s village presumably, she touches his arm.

“Are you okay? I was worried, when you weren’t there this morning. I thought…” And the stomach clenching anxiety he’s been feeling melts away.

“My brother, he was covering for me, since I was up late. He was the one that saw us, he was waiting when I got home,” her eyes widen, and he rushes to add, “he didn’t tell, but he was worried. He thinks we shouldn’t let people see us together,” he trails off, looking for her reaction. He’s relieved when she doesn’t seem to be hurt or angry, but looks thoughtful. “I’m not ashamed to be seen with you, but-” and she nods.

“It’s better if your mother doesn't know we're friends. I don’t know why she hates me so much.” Peeta frowns. Doesn’t she know?

“I think it’s because you look so much like your mother. And you know, with what happened when they were young.” Peeta doesn’t know exactly what happened, but he knows that his father liked Katniss’ mother, maybe loved her, and as a result his own mother has a special hatred for Mrs Everdeen. Katniss mouth falls open and her eyes go wide.

“I don’t look anything like my mother! Look at me, I’m all seam. Prim’s the one that got the blonde hair.” Peeta feels the corner of his mouth tilt up. Doesn’t she ever look at herself? Her face is like a copy of her mother’s, overlaid with seam coloring. Apparently all Katniss manages to notice is the coloring. Perhaps that’s all she wants to notice.

“Yeah, well, she hates your mom, so she hates you too.” Katniss shakes her head at that, but doesn’t question him any further. Instead she turns and follows Gale into the woods, leaving Peeta with the stressful responsibility of three kids to keep safe.

He shouldn’t worry. Rory proudly shows off his sling shot, firing stones at several trees. Peeta is impressed. If wild animals attack Rory will probably be the one defending them. It makes Peeta feel much more relaxed. He gets working on pulling onions, carefully following Gale’s instructions about how many to take. They don’t want to pull them all and leave nothing for later, or to seed for next year.

“Peeta,” Rory whispers urgently, and Peeta freezes. He turns slowly expecting to see a cougar or a bear, but all he sees a pigeon, perched on a nearby branch. “Peeta,” he whispers again, “can you pass me my pebbles?” Peeta fumbles around and finds the small pouch, handing it to him, and watches in silence as Rory carefully loads his sling and aims. He’s amazed when, not only does the pebble hit the bird, it falls, apparently dead.

Rory grins at him exuberantly. “I did it! I’ve never hit anything before!” The other kids laugh as he dances around the clearing. “But, where did it go?” Vick asks, and they all stop to search the area. Finally Rory sighs.

“Must’ve gone over the fence, figures. Gale probably won’t even believe I hit anything.” He looks so dejected, Peeta goes to the fence and starts climbing. Surely if he’s quiet he can go over and get it. When he reaches the top he looks over, and, yes he can see the pigeon!

“No! No! Stop!” Peeta feels a tug on his leg, and sees Prim and Vick at the bottom. Rory has climbed up and is pulling on his leg.

“It’s okay, I see it and I can get it.” Rory looks horrified, and yanks on his leg so hard that Peeta tumbles down on top of him.

“What did you do that for! I was going to get the bird!” The kids drag him away from the wall, back toward the onion patch.

“Are you crazy? You can’t go over there. Not ever!” Peeta looks at their scared faces, feeling confused.

“I thought you wanted that bird.”

“Not that bad,” Rory shakes his head. “Not enough to get you killed.” It all seems a bit crazy to Peeta, but the other kids refuse to say any more.

He’s gathering up the onions that were abandoned in all the excitement, when Gale and Katniss show up.

Rory rushes to tell on him, and Gale and Katniss look shocked and angry.

“What were you thinking,” Katniss hisses gripping his arms so tightly it’s almost painful. “I trusted you to take care of my sister and you do this?”

“What’s the big deal? I know it’s Victor’s Village and all, but it’s just Haymitch Abernathy. He’s probably asleep, or drinking. I could’ve gotten Rory’s bird back.”

“What do you mean, just Haymitch?” Gale demands. “Don’t you know about The Beast?”

“The Beast?” he glances around at all their incredulous faces, “what’s The Beast?” Gale makes a sound of disgust and shoves him back toward the fence.

“Climb that tree, and look over, very carefully.”

Peeta is shaking a little as he clambers up the tree. Is this some sort of elaborate prank? But they all seem truly scared, particularly Katniss. She wouldn’t do this as a joke, would she? When he gets high enough he looks out over the fence. At first there’s nothing, and then he sees it. A huge dark shape moving around under the shadows of the trees.

He comes down too quickly banging his elbows and knees on the bark, and lands in a heap at the bottom.

“Did you see it?” Gale asks, offering him a hand up.

“Yeah. What is that?”

“That was The Beast.” Gale leads him back to the where the others wait anxiously.

“I thought you knew,” Katniss whispers, grabbing his hand and yanking him closer, “yesterday when we were here, I thought you understood.” Gale gives them a quizzical look, but doesn’t comment. Instead they silently head back around toward the meadow.

“The Beast.” Gale says, ominously, leaning back against a tree. They’re back in that same spot where he first met them a few days ago. “You want to know what it is?” Peeta nods, feeling a shivery feeling creeping over him. He sits back against a rock, and Katniss wriggles up next to him. Rory presses against him from the other side. It’s as if the two of them are guarding him. Prim and Vick range a bit away, picking herbs or something, clearly disinterested in the story, now the drama has passed.

 “A long time ago, when Haymitch first came home from the games, he was rich, and he gave people lots of stuff. Everyone was happy and things were great. But then something happened, no one knows what it was, but he got mean. And selfish. He stopped being nice, and kept all his good stuff for himself.

 “Everyone was mad. So when he went away to the games the next time they climbed the fence around the Village and broke into his house. He has so much food that it was stacked up in the hallways, and everything. So they took it.

 “When Haymitch got home he was really angry. He put locks on everything, but now that everyone knew how much good stuff he had in there people kept sneaking in and taking it. So the next year, in the games, there was this horrible mutt. It was, like, half gorilla, half bear, half dog. And it ripped six kids to pieces. After the games, Haymitch got it, and brought it home with him. He lets it roam around loose, and if it catches anyone but Haymitch in Victor’s Village? It eats them.”

They all sit in silence, taking in the idea of a mutt, running freely around on the other side of the fence.

“Don’t the peacekeepers care?” Peeta ask in horror. Gale shrugs.

“As long as it doesn’t get out, why would they care if a few people get eaten every year?”

The whole story seems so crazy, like some sort of fairy tale, but he did see some sort of huge creature, and the others were really scared. And yes, Peeta is feeling scared too. Katniss bumps him with her elbow.

“Anything that goes over that fence is gone forever. Got it?” He nods. Gale stares at him for a moment, as if he thinks he’s lying and planning on jumping that fence at the first opportunity. But then he gives him a nod. He must be pleased with how much he’s been able to intimidate Peeta, because he gets up and goes over to Vick.

“Peeta,” says Rory from his other side, “I’m sorry I almost got you eaten.” He looks horribly sad, and Peeta feels a lurch of guilt for frightening him “Are we still friends?”

“Shut it,” Katniss says cutting in before Peeta can apologize, “I know you just want more bakery food.” Rory’s downcast face immediately switches to a sweet smile.

“Peeta are you still going to hang out with us and bring us cookies?” he asks, huge pleading eyes sparkling. Peeta laughs, and Katniss shoos him away.

“Is that story true? Or is Gale just trying to scare me?” Peeta asks her quietly. Katniss waves her hand dismissively.

“Does it matter? There’s a huge scary animal over there, you saw it. So it’s too dangerous to climb that fence. All I care about is that you never, ever try to get over there again.” She leans her shoulder against his. “I don’t like it when you get hurt, so just don’t.”

“You, you care if I get hurt?” he asks, even more softly.

“Yeah. You’re my friend, I need you to be safe. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t lose anyone else. You need to be careful.” They sit like that for a few minutes, but Gale keeps cutting them impatient looks, so with a sigh Katniss gets up and pulls Peeta up too. “Back to work.”

-------------------------

All in all, despite almost getting eaten by a gorilla/bear/dog, it was a great day. His brother had acted like he cared, Gale was kind of warming up to him, the younger kids, particularly Rory, seemed to have accepted him, and Katniss Everdeen said he was her friend. Plus when he checked on the rhoda plant, to give it water, it looked like it was recovering from it’s transplanting and was going to be fine.

Peeta is on for close up, and Dayvid gives him looks, but they don’t talk much as they clean up the kitchen and set the dough to rise.

“You want to sleep outside again tonight?” Dayvid asks as they wash the last of the trays.

When Peeta steps out into the beautifully cool evening air, Dayvid is already sitting on the blankets next to the pig pen. He looks completely relaxed. Perhaps Peeta shouldn’t iterupt that, maybe he should go back upstairs to their still, hot bedroom. But Dayvid glances up and waves him over. Peeta perches on the corner of the blanket, feeling uncomfortable. As much as he’s slept in the same room as his brother his entire life, he doesn’t know him very well. The five year age gap has separated them socially. And the Mellark family isn’t the kind that that gathers around the table for cheerful family dinners. Peeta and his brothers are essentially strangers. They don’t hang out. They barely even talk.

“Why do you want me here?” he asks, and feels immediately embarrassed. His brother is finally acting like he’s worth paying attention to and he’s questioning him on it.

“Can’t I spend some time with my brother?” he asks, sounding defensive. Peeta slouches down onto the blankets. He knew this whole thing was too good to be true.

“You haven’t wanted to before. You’re just gonna lecture me about Katniss again, aren’t you?” Dayvid sighs.

“Maybe a little. Why does it have to be her? Out of all the girls in the entire district she’s the one most likely to set mother off. Why can’t you date some safe merchant girl?”

Peeta crosses his arms and glares at his brother. He’s already said they’re not dating! And who does he think he is? Dayvid’s never been there when he needed someone, and yet now that he has the possibility of real friends his brother wants to butt in and tell him what to do. He thinks again about going back inside, away from his annoying brother. But that feels like quitting, and Peeta may be shy and cowardly, but he’s also stubborn.

He lays down and puts his back to his brother instead. Hopefully Dayvid will get the hint.

“Peeta. I’m sorry. I’m a jerk, I know.” That’s true enough to get Peeta to roll back over and look at him. “I just don’t want to see you ruin your life.”

“Katniss isn’t ruining my life,” he retorts, “she makes it better. She actually cares when I get hurt.” Guilt flashes onto Dayvid’s face for a moment.

“I’m sure she’s great and everything, but if you keep on with her you’re going to end up in the mines.”

“I’m going to end up there anyway.” Peeta’s mother taunts him with that idea regularly. As the youngest and least favored there aren’t a lot of other options. But Dayvid is shaking his head.

“No true. If anyone’s going to the mines it’s Tomas. I’m getting out, and you’re the one that’s going to get the bakery.” Peeta shakes his head, none of this makes any sense. Dayvid rolls onto his back and stares up at the sky.

“Can you keep a secret?” Peeta nods, but Dayvid’s not looking at him. He continues anyway, “I really am getting out. As soon as I have my last reaping I’m going to marry Rachel and apprentice to her father.”

“Why?” is all Peeta can say. He can’t imagine wanting to leave the bakery. Dayvid chuckles.

“I’m not like you. I don’t care about baking. I’d probably be okay with it, except for the parents. I just want to get away from them, you know?” Peeta does know. The bakery might be warm and smell delicious, but it was a cold harsh place to grow up. “You can’t tell anyone that, okay? I think dad has guessed, but he hasn’t asked, so I haven’t told him anything. I don’t think he wants to know, that way he can play dumb.” Peeta nods seriously. He has no desire to get anyone in trouble with his mother, even Dayvid, who’s always been her favorite.

“Anyway, Dad’s training you to take over. You’re his favorite, and you’ve got all the talent. I mean seriously, a solo toasting cake at twelve? I’ve still never done that. Once I’m out of here the bakery will be yours. Unless you screw up and make make mother hate you so much that she makes sure Tomas gets it, out of spite.”

Peeta. The one with talent? The one who’s going to inherit the bakery even though he’s the youngest, and the most useless and worthless of the three of them? Dayvid must be making fun of him. But he seems so calm and confident with his explanation.

“I don’t know why that means I can’t be friends with Katniss,” he finally says, his voice small and sad. Because he does know. Dayvid gives him a sympathetic look.

“I’m sorry. I wish I could fix this for you. But you know why.”

Peeta turns his back again. This time it’s to hide the tears that are leaking from his eyes. And he feels the anger growing, like fire in his stomach. It’s not fair. He should be able to have friends and a future. He will figure out a way to have both. He will not let her win.

It’s already stiflingly hot in the bakery kitchen, and it’s only nine in the morning.  The heat from the ovens, so welcome in the winter, leaves them all limp and soaked in the summer months.    

Peeta looks up when he hears his seventeen year old brother stumbling sleepily down the stairs, his curly blonde hair standing out from his head in all directions.  

As far as Peeta is concerned the guy is an idiot.  Last week he made a deal with the two younger brothers.  It seems being a baker was cutting into his social life, so for the rest of the summer Dayvid agreed to take all the day shifts, if Peeta and Tomas will be on early.  In practical terms it means Dayvid will spend the hottest part of the day, of the hottest days of the year in front of giant ovens.  Just so he can go out with his girlfriend every night, and sleep in every morning.  Idiot.  

It also means that by 9am Peeta is free.  He does have to get up at 3am, but it’s worth it to be able to bake in the cool predawn hours for the morning rush, rather than bake all afternoon for the evening customers.  

The only problem is that he has no where to go.  He could go upstairs to the room he shares with his two brothers, but it’ll be even hotter up there.  He’s thinking about going outside to sit in the cool shade of the apple tree, when he hears a knock on the back door.

Peeta knows who it is without looking.  It’s her.  Katniss.  She and her friend Gale, have a squirrel to sell, just like they have almost every morning lately.  Peeta does his best to focus on the paper in front of him, instead of staring at her. But when they leave he can’t help watching through the window as they walk down the street.  Peeta has seen them around together a lot lately.  He is not jealous.  

She looks better, healthier.  He can still remember how scared he was when he saw her sitting in the rain.  He had thought she was dead, until she moved.  She’d taken the bread and run off fast enough though.  And now she’s going out to the woods.  Peeta knows, because he’s spied on her and Gale slipping through the fence.  They think they’re being sneaky, but Peeta can be sneaky too.  He longs to follow them.  Whatever they do out there has got to be more exciting than anything else that happens around here.

He probably doesn’t need to be sneaky.  Katniss and Gale are too busy doing important things to ever notice him.  Nobody notices Peeta Mellark much.  He may have every single summer day free, but he has nothing do with them.  Tomas has lots of plans with his friends, but Peeta expects he’ll be spending the next few months just hanging around the bakery.  It’s not so bad.  His dad lets him help with the cakes.

“Peeta, why are you still here?”  His father’s voice cuts into his thoughts.  He starts guiltily, hoping his father didn’t see the direction his eyes had gone.  

“I was working on the design for the toasting cake.  I want it to be perfect.”  Peeta’s father has recently given him his first solo order.  The bride is the daughter of a mine foreman, so unlike most seam folk they can afford a decorated cake, but only a fairly plain one.  Peeta’s father had offered them a discount on something much more elaborate, if they agreed to Peeta decorating it.  They had looked at him doubtfully.  He could see what they were thinking.  Is it really worth it to buy a cake made by a twelve year old?  But when he had shyly shown them  the cookies he had decorated that morning they had agreed.  It’s a big responsibility, and something he takes very seriously.

His father sighs and sits down next to him at the table.  “Peeta, that order isn’t due for weeks.  It’s the summer.  Go outside and have some fun with your friends.”  That’s the problem.  Peeta doesn’t have any friends.  He knows plenty of kids to wave and say hi, but he’s never been able to put himself forward enough to go beyond that.  His eyes drift back to where he can see Katniss and Gale disappear down a side street.  His father interprets the look as longing to get outdoors, so he cheerfully stuffs some day old rolls into a bag, hands it to Peeta to “share with your friends,” and tells him he doesn’t want to see him before dinner.  Peeta nervously glances across at his mother.  Surely she doesn’t approve of this.  But she gives him a short nod.  Him hanging around is probably annoying her.

He can’t go and sit under the apple tree now.  It would be embarrassing.  So he puts away his notebook, takes the paper bag, and leaves.

At loss for how to spend the day, he wanders to the meadow near the fence.  When he hears voices of other children approaching he hides himself behind a bush.  He knows it’s stupid.  Other kids shouldn’t make him so nervous.  This dumb shyness is why he has no friends, but he can’t seem to make himself go back out.  Especially when he realises it’s Katniss, her little sister, and the Hawthorne boys.  

The older two are complaining about having to take the ‘kids’ along, as they all climb under the fence and disappear into the woods.

Katniss and Gale just took little kids into the woods.  The woods that are so dangerous the Capitol had to build a fence to protect everyone.

How dangerous is it?  Really?  Peeta is shaking a bit as he slides under the fence, but they took a six year old out there with them.  Surely Peeta is tough enough to handle it.  He stands and stares at the tree line for a moment, knowing that he shouldn’t delay here where he’s still visible from inside the fence, but still he hesitates to enter.  Peeta doubts that this is what his father had in mind when he sent him off to ‘have some fun’.

Katniss does this every day.  And she’s a lot smaller and weaker than him.  He ignores the little voice telling him she’s capable of killing things, and pushes into the underbrush.

Once he’s past the initial wall of trees, the space opens up, and he gasps in wonder.  He’s never seen so much variety.  District Twelve is plain and drab and sooty, but this is a different world.  It is alive with so many shades of green and there is a sort of echoing silence, yet he can hear the sounds of birds and insects.  He bends to examine the tiny blossoms on a bush, wishing he had brought his sketchbook with him, he will next time.  A rustling behind him makes Peeta startle, how could he forget the dangerous creatures he’s been warned about?  He spins around to face what ever wild animal is ready to attack him.  He trips on a root and falls onto his butt.

“Oh, it’s just Peeta Mellark,” Katniss says, lowering her bow.  She has a bow and arrows?  Peeta is so amazed and fascinated that he almost doesn’t notice that Gale Hawthorne doesn’t lower his knife.  

“Who?” Gale grunts instead.  Katniss waves a hand dismissively.

“He’s in my class.  He’s okay.”  Peeta feels himself flushing as he scrambles awkwardly to his feet.  Katniss thinks he’s okay?

“He’s a merchant!” Gale hisses.  “You think it’s okay to bring a merchant out here?”  

“I didn’t bring him,” Katniss replies, her voice getting louder.  “All I said is that he’s okay.  He’s not going to turn us in,” she looks toward Peeta, addressing him for the first time, “are you?”

Peeta shakes his head vigorously.  Gale lowers his weapon with obvious reluctance.

“What are you doing out here?”  Katniss asks, after a moment.  Peeta shrugs uncomfortably, embarrassed to admit that he has nowhere else to go.  

“I don’t know, I always wanted to see what it’s like out here, and when I saw you with all the little kids, I just thought that it must not be so dangerous.  I didn’t mean to bother you.”  

“Well you’ve seen it now, so go back where you came from, townie.” Gale says.  Katniss looks a bit uncomfortable, but aside from a guilty glance at Peeta, she doesn’t react to Gale’s harsh words.  

Peeta wonders if he should just go, but he looks around again.  It’s beautiful, and cool, and it’s so peaceful.  He doesn’t know where the courage comes from, Gale looks like thunder, and angry people terrify him, but he can’t let this go.  He shakes his head, and tries to look tough.

“I think I’ll stay here, but you don’t have to worry about me.  I’ll leave you alone.”  Katniss and Gale are already shaking their heads.  

“It really can get dangerous,” Katniss tells him, “there are packs of wild dogs that could tear you apart in a second.”  That image is something he didn’t need in his head.  He feels a bit dizzy.  Gale must see it because he jumps in.

“I doubt you could fight them off,” he smirks, “you don’t even have a weapon.”

“I have a weapon,” Peeta says, fumbling in his pocket for his prized possession, a pocket knife.  He’s not helpless, and he’s not going to let them scare him off.  Not after he’s seen all this.  

Gale snatches it from his hands before he has a chance to react.  “Not exactly prepared to defend yourself, are you?” he smirks.  He turns his attention to the knife, and his expression changes.  “This is nice, where’d you get it?”  Peeta tries to stand straighter, look taller, or even slightly intimidating, but it’s pointless, Gale towers over him.

“My aunt gave it to me, she’s the butcher, and I help in her shop sometimes.”  Gale has opened the blade and is running his fingers across it.  He whistles.

“This is sharp.  Does she sharpen it for you?”  Peeta puffs up a little with pride.

“I do that. I’m the best at sharpening knives, Aunt Rooba always has me do it.”  Actually it’s all she let’s him do.  It’s supposed to be the worst job, the one they make the newest apprentice take before they ever cut a piece of meat, but Gale Hawthorne doesn’t need to know that.

“Prove it,” is all Gale says, offering his knife.  Peeta passes the bag of bread to Katniss and takes the knife.  It’s clearly hand made, the handle is wood, simply carved into a smooth curved shape, and the blade looks like a piece of scrap metal, probably scrounged from the junkyard, or the mines.  He runs his finger across the edge.  It’s very blunt, the edge feels more like a butter knife than a tool for carving up animals.  The metal in his pocket knife blade is special, and stays sharp, but even made out of scrap, surely this knife can hold a better edge than this?

“What’s this?” Katniss asks.  Peeta glances at her, she’s holding the bag of bread gingerly, as if it’s contaminated.

“Oh it’s just some stale bread, have some.”  Peeta says, his attention returning to the knife.  If only he had his whetstone he could show Gale that he can be useful to them.

“We don’t have anything to trade,” she says, and her voice wavers a little.  Peeta becomes aware of the wide eyed stares on the faces of the little ones.

“It’s not for trade, my dad gave me that to share with my friends,” she’s already moving to hand it back, so he rushes to add, “if you guys let me stay out here with you, that would make you my friends right?”  Katniss gives him an intent look.  Does she know that he has no friends?

“Are you trying to bribe us?” Gale is smirking.  Peeta grins back, glad to look away from Katniss.

“Maybe.”  

“Okay.”  He snatches the bag from Katniss and throws a roll to each of the younger kids.  “What?” he asks, when Katniss scowls at him, “I’m fine with him paying us to be his friends.”  It’s a joke, surely, but it’s too close to the truth.  Peeta wonders if that’s why his dad gave him that bread, so he could bribe some kids to be his friends.  

Gale passes Katniss half a roll, and stuffs the rest into his bag, and leans against a tree.  The whole incident seems to have warmed him toward Peeta considerably.  

“So, about this sharpening thing.  Do you really know what you’re doing?”   Peeta tries to look as nonchalant as Gale does.

“I know I could make this knife a lot sharper, if I had a stone, and oil.  I could go home and get them maybe,” except he’d have to go to the butcher shop for that, and come up with a reason why he needed to take off with the whetstone instead of sharpening his knife there, like he always does.  Gale produces a pouch from his pocket, and shows Peeta the stone and bottle of oil inside.

“Is this what you need?”  The tools are improvised, the stone looks like a chunk of sandstone, nothing like the manufactured rectangle his aunt has, and the oil was probably designed for mine machinery, but Peeta takes them and lodging the stone against a tree root, he gets to work.  Both Katniss and Gale stand over him, watching him carefully.  It makes it hard to focus.

“This knife, it’s really blunt, so it’s going to take a while.”  Please stop staring.  Gale grunts and wanders over to the where the younger ones are sitting, nibbling on the bread rolls.  They talk for a moment, and then the group of them are walking away.  

Katniss kneels down beside him, and Peeta’s breath catches.  He’s alone in the woods, with Katniss Everdeen, and she’s looking at him like he’s interesting, special even.  Well, watching his hands sharpening a knife, but close enough.  The silence between them lasts so long, and Peeta can’t think of a thing to say.  Maybe he’s not supposed to talk.  He noticed that she and Gale had kept their voices soft, even when the were arguing they went from whispers to low voices.  Perhaps if they’re loud it will draw the attention of a bear or something.

“You do know what you’re doing,” she finally says, and she sounds impressed.  Peeta tries not to grin too proudly.  

“Of course.  Did you think I was lying?  Why don’t you know how to do this?”  Her eyes turn away, and he regrets the question.

“I just never learned, okay?”  

“Oh, well I can show you, and I can sharpen all of your blades if you want.”  She rewards him with a small smile.  Peeta can’t believe that he has a skill that Katniss is impressed with.  An idea forms, perhaps he can make a deal with her?

By the time Gale and the little ones arrive back, Katniss is well into her first lesson.  Peeta is distracted by the bucket of odd green curlicues that they’re carrying.  He plucks one up, fascinated by the shape.

“What is it?” he asks in wonder.  One morning out here and he’s already seen so many new things.  Gale looks at him oddly.

“You’ve never eaten fern?  No wonder you’re so little.”  Peeta flushes with embarrassment.  He’s not that small.  It’s just that Gale is a giant, and two years older.  But, if eating this plant could make him grow faster...  

Gale has lost interest in the ferns, and is examining his knife.  “I guess he can stay,” he says, sounding authoritative.  Katniss rolls her eyes.

“I already told him that.  Peeta’s going to teach me to sharpen knives, and watch the little kids every morning, so we can get stuff done.  I’m gonna teach him to gather greens and berries and stuff.”  She eyes Gale as if she expects him to challenge her.  She had been reluctant to agree, but from the way she’s acting you’d think it was all her idea.    

Gale glares at them both.

“Fine, but if I hear that you talked to anyone about this, you’re done.”

Peeta has trouble sleeping that night, he’s too excited about everything.  He has friends!  Or at least people willing to let him hang around.  And tomorrow he’s going to see Katniss and she’s going to smile and talk to him.  Best of all he doesn’t have to spend the summer trying to pretend he has places to go, because he does have a place to go.  The best place in District 12.  The woods.

When his father wakes him at three it doesn’t seem quite as exciting.  And of course it’s the morning his mother decides to ask him about the toasting cake.  Peeta knows that she and his father argued about whether he was old enough for the responsibility.  His mother expects him to mess up.  She always does.  When she demands to see his design he knows he’s in trouble.  

He has no design yet, just some random sketches.  When sees that she starts in on him.  He’s too tired to handle this.  Lately he’s been able to talk her around and not get hit, but not today.  He’s left sitting on the floor, ears ringing, and face throbbing.  He tries not to cry, but it’s hard.  It hurts, and he is so angry and frustrated.  Perhaps he should stay home today.  It will placate his mother if he comes up with some sort of completed design.  And he could avoid Gale and Katniss seeing what his mother did to his face.

“What happened to you?”  He looks up to see Katniss standing at the back door, squirrel in hand, wide eyed and staring.  Too late to hide, but at least she’s alone.

“Peeta’s fine, he just had a little accident earlier,” his father cuts between them, blocking her  view of him.  His father is always eager to protect him after the beating.  The feeling churning in his stomach, it’s the same confusing mix of gratitude and anger that he often feels toward his father, and now it’s overlaid with shame that Katniss saw him looking so pathetic.  When she’s gone his father turns toward him with an overeager smile, and eyes that won’t quite meet his.

“I think you’ve earned an early day, why don’t you head off now?  Your brother and I have got this covered.”

Katniss yanks him to the side the moment he steps out the door, she must have been waiting for him.  She doesn’t say a word until they are under the fence and alone.  She pulls him closer, running her fingers around his black eye.  I would feel good if his face didn’t hurt so much.  She leads him deeper into the woods, stopping finally at a small stream.  She pulls a rag from her bag, and wets it in the water.

“Put this on it.  Snow is better, but the water is cold enough.”  Peeta silently holds the wet cloth to his face.  The coolness feels wonderful.  He sits on a rock beside the stream, and Katniss sits beside him.  “When it stops feeling cool, wet it again.”  He nods, feeling small and embarrassed.  So much for impressing her, now all she must see is a weak little boy who’s a disappointment to everyone.  

“Was it because of me?” she whispers, as he refreshes the cloth in the water.  He looks at her, confused.

“What do you mean?”  

“This,” she gestures toward his face, not quite meeting his eyes.  “Was this because of me, because you were with me yesterday?”  Her hands clench in her lap.  “I don’t want you getting hurt again because of me.”  He knows he shouldn’t ask, but-

“Again?”

“Are you going to make me say it?  Fine,” she snaps, “you saved me that night, when you threw the bread, and I know she hit you for it.  I saw the bruise on your face the next day, and still I never, I never even said thank-” she cuts herself off with a sob, turning her body away from him.  He made her cry, because he’s stupid, and now doesn’t know what to do.

“I’m sorry, please don’t cry.  I don’t care about thanks, I swear, I didn’t expect anything, I just didn’t want you to be hungry.”  He puts his hand on her back, ready to snatch it back if she pulls away at all.  But she doesn’t, so he lets it lie there.  “And anyway, letting me come out here with you, teaching me stuff, it’s better than any dumb thank you.”  She turns her head and gives him a watery smile, and he feels triumphant, but then the corners of her mouth turn down again.

“Not if it means you’re getting hit because of it.”  

“I’m not.  I promise.”  She eyes him skeptically, so he’s forced to tell her everything, about the cake, and his mother, and it’s strange.  He’s never actually talked out loud, to anyone, about the way his mother treats him.  People either know, or they don’t want to hear.  But Katniss listens quietly, and so he talks and talks.

“She’s wrong,” Katniss says, finally.  “You’re going to make a beautiful cake.”  She takes his sketch book and starts flipping through it.  “What do you think you’re going to put on it?  Flowers?”  

“Definitely flowers.  Leticia, she’s the bride,  said she loves flowers.  And I had this idea,” he hesitates, feeling shy, but Katniss nods encouragingly, “I know most flowers come in the spring, and they’re  gone by now, so I wanted to look around out here and find something that’ll still be flowering on the wedding day,” Katniss’ is shaking her head and he feels foolish.  “I knew it was a dumb idea.”

“No, it sounds nice.  But, if the flowers are out here how will she ever see them?  And how would you explain knowing about them?”  Oh.  He hadn’t thought about that.  But then she grins.  “Unless we dig it up and plant it in the meadow, and you can ‘find’ it growing there.”

“We can do that?” Peeta asks doubtfully, it sounds complicated and risky.  But Katniss smiles, confidently.

“Of course, my dad used to…” the smile drops from her face, “I’ve done it before, okay?”  He nods vigorously, hoping she doesn’t start crying again.

“I’m sorry, I’m taking up all you time, you probably want to get hunting,”  he says, hurriedly trying to change the subject.  Katniss must be as eager as he is to be done with this conversation, because she leaps to her feet and leads him away from the stream.  

When he asks about the others she tells him that Gale has to stay and help his mother with the laundry on Wednesdays, and Prim decided to stay with the other kids, so it’s just the two of them.  She quickly gets frustrated with his loud footsteps, and leaves him at a blackberry thicket with a bucket and a knife, instructing him to crawl under the bushes if he sees any large animals, and only use the knife to defend himself as a last resort.  He feels embarrassed that she so clearly sees him as helpless, so he works diligently to sharpen the knife and then gather as many berries as possible.  

Katniss seems happier when she returns with a fat gamebag, and she’s pleased with the amount of berries Peeta has picked.  And then she drops a flower bud into his hand.  He turns it over, it’s a brilliant shade of pink with pale pink stripes curving around it.  Peeta has never seen anything like it.

“Do you know what it’s called?” he breathes.  Katniss scrunches her nose.  

“It’s a rhoda, I think.”  

“I wonder what it looks like when it opens,” Peeta says, twirling it between his fingers.  Katniss smirks and holds up an open flower. It’s beautiful, and perfect for the cake.  

As she leads him back where she found the rhoda plant, Peeta can’t help think about how amazing the last two days have been.  Sure he got hit in the face, but he’s hanging out with Katniss Everdeen!  As much as he’s watched her over the years he never thought she would ever want to spend time with him for real  And now she’s helping him with his cake?  Everything is better since he met her.  

When he glimpses the bright flowers through the trees he starts forward, but she grabs his hand and pulls him back.

“Wait!  You need to be extra quiet, Victor’s Village is right through there.”  Peeta looks and sees, instead of the chain link fence that surrounds the rest of the district, a high wall.  It would be very bad to be caught doing something illegal here.

Peeta moves forward carefully, remembering how loud Katniss had accused him of being earlier.  The flowers are growing right along the fence.  Katniss silently produces a piece  of metal that’s been filed to a point, and starts cutting into the soil around one of the smaller bushes.  When Peeta kneels beside her she passes him a stick, keeping the better tool for herself.

As they’re freeing the ball of dirt there’s a loud thump from the other side of the fence.  Peeta freezes and meets Katniss’ wide eyes.  What was that?  The only person with a right to be over there is Haymitch Abernathy, so is he stumbling around and banging into the fence?  He wants to ask, but the look she gives him makes him stay silent.  They quickly gather up the tools and the plant so they can tiptoe away.

When they’re a reasonable distance away, Peeta looks back.  “How did you find those plants? Why were you that close to Victor’s Village?”

“Best place for onions, I was checking to see if any are ready to be harvested,” she gives him a thoughtful look, “I might send you there with the kids to gather some tomorrow,” she doesn’t add, ‘If I think you can be trusted,’ but he sees it in her face.  He doesn’t care, because she said tomorrow.  She still wants to see him tomorrow, even though he was loud, and wasted her time, and made her cry.  

“Okay, Yeah, I can do that.  I can be here tomorrow.”

So that’s it for chapter one. More to come!  Many thanks to my oh so patient beta smartalexy, and also to everyone at everlarkian archives who have been supportive and helpful as I had various meltdowns while writing this.